Bananaphobia – A NaLu Oneshot
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THESE CHARACTERS; THEY ALL BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS.
Lucy strolled through the store, shivering as she pushed her trolley past rows of refrigerators. Slowly she browsed the isles, looking for something, just something that interested her. Despite the fact the she was walking past industrial freezers brimming with ice-cream, it didn't appeal to her for some reason.
Then, just as she was about to walk out empty-handed, a large stall seemingly beckoned to her from the other end of the fruit isle. It was a massive wooden cart filled with… Bananas! Lucy quickened her pace over to the stall, grabbing a large bunch of ripe, bright yellow bananas. Then an idea began to form in her head,
"I should surprise Natsu with these… On a picnic!" She thought to herself, her eyes lighting up as her plan took shape. Then, in a flash, she had paid for the bananas and was racing back home.
Once home, she grabbed an old wicker basket, filling it with sandwiches, spicy treats and- of course- a couple of bananas from the bunch. She had just closed the lid when a familiar voice suddenly spoke behind her:
"What'cha doing, Luce?" It said cheerfully.
Lucy turned to see a grinning, pink-haired boy and a flying blue cat standing behind her.
She clapped her hands together, pleased at Natsu's sudden arrival for once,
"I've planned a surprise for you, Natsu! Quickly, follow me!" She said, grabbing the confused pinkette by the wrist and dragging him out the door behind her, carrying the picnic basket as she did.
The two jogged/ran until they'd reached a large field, accompanied by a glistening blue stream. Lucy stopped a small distance before the water, unraveling and laying down a square blanket in front of her. Natsu, finally realizing that Lucy was setting up a picnic, chuckled to himself.
"There!" Lucy finally said, having won a battle with the wind and set up the picnic.
The two sat on the blanket, and began eating the sandwiches Lucy had prepared before (Well, Natsu and Happy mainly gorged themselves on the spicy food she had packed). She was planning to save the bananas for later, as a sort of 'after meal', and so kept them stashed away. The friends talked and chatted as usual, discussing random things, jobs and adventures they'd had, and at one point, a heated discussion about pies.
It was really peaceful here, just Lucy and Natsu (and Happy of course), being friends.
They sat and chatted for a while, until all the sandwiches and spicy treats had been eaten by the three. Now, she thought, they could share the ripe bananas.
"I brought one last thing to eat." She began, and reached into the picnic basket, revealing a handful of yellow, ripe bananas. Upon seeing the fruits, Natsu gave a girlish shriek and skidded backwards a short way, seemingly terrified by them.
"Uh… They're just bananas, Natsu. They're not that scary." She said, confused as to why he thought they were an evil monster.
"Y-Yes, they are!" He began, stumbling over his words, "You have no idea the things I've seen, Lucy."
By this point, Lucy was lost for words. Was he playing a joke? She hoped so.
"What's the deal with you and bananas?" She said as she began to peel one, revealing the perfectly ripe, white insides. Natsu gulped nervously, still maintaining his distance from the yellow abominations.
He steeled himself, and attempted to speak,
"T-They… They…" He stuttered, unable to cope with his sentences.
"A banana attacked my mother." He said gravely, now staring a thousand-mile-stare at the waving grass in the distance.
"A banana… Attacked your mother? Natsu, that's awful!" She showed genuine sympathy towards the boy, even though she was still confused as hell.
"I could never forget that day." He trailed off, still staring into the distance, his only movement being his spiky pink hair tangling itself in the breeze.
And so, snapping back to somewhat reality, he retold the story of that fateful day. Lucy listened thoughtfully to the entire thing, about how he was still so young, about how, after that one event, he developed an everlasting fear for the scrumptious yellow fruits. At random intervals, Happy would pipe up with his usual "Aye!", having known this story all along. At the end of his heart-wrenching story, Lucy spoke.
"I see," She began, still trying to comprehend this entirely new side to her friend,
"Natsu, I think you should overcome this fear- leave all these terrible memories behind you."
At hearing this, Natsu met her gaze, eyes widened.
"You want me to… Eat a banana?!" He exclaimed as though it was the craziest thing he'd ever heard.
"Look, Natsu! It's easy!" She said, taking a bite of the banana she'd peeled moments before. Natsu watched, cringing in disgust or fear, she couldn't tell. Lucy sighed, but stayed patient with the traumatized boy.
"Natsu, please," She said, giving him adorable blue puppy-dog eyes, "Do it for me?"
She knew how much the pinkette trusted her, and she was using this to her advantage. He stared into her understanding eyes for a few seconds, the thought of overcoming his greatest fear (even greater than transportation vehicles) whirring at a million miles through his head. He too let out a sigh, shakily reaching out and grabbing a banana that lay on the picnic rug. He examined the yellow object, awful memories flashing in his eyes like lightning.
Lucy's face lit up with hope as Natsu began to peel the banana, despite the fact that his hands were shaking almost uncontrollably. A feeling of tension and anticipation hung in the sweet summer air as he gulped, taking a last glance to the blonde girl before him, before closing his eyes and biting into the fruit.
Eye's still closed tight, the pink-haired boy chewed the fruit which was, to his surprise, quite tasty. Then he swallowed the heap, opening his eyes to meet Lucy's gaze once more. A huge grin was plastered on her face as she looked proudly at Natsu, who had almost instantly lost his undying fear of bananas. A grin crept onto his face as he saw how proud she was, and he too began to feel pride within him.
"You did it, Natsu!" She exclaimed, lunging forward and embracing him in a tight hug. Cheers could be heard somewhere in the background as Happy jumped in glee at Natsu's achievement.
"Yeah…" Natsu said quietly, still hugging Lucy, "…I-I guess I did!"
And so, the three continued to talk in the warm glow of the afternoon sun for a time and, as it began to sink underneath the distant mountains, wandered happily home; that wonderful feeling of pride still inside Natsu (as well as many bananas).
A/N: *phew*! Hooray for my first Fanfic (on this site anyway)! This is based off of a one-word-prompt given to me by the fantastic TheSpicyBurrito 3
*Initiate self-criticism mode* I think I could've made the ending a bit better, but I didn't want to drag to story out anymore than it already was. Still, I'm pretty pleased with this :) I hope you guys like it, and be sure to let me know of you do! I'd love any constructive criticism you may have also!
Have a great day, everyone! 3